Mar 17 2010
Irvine Sensors Corporation (Nasdaq: IRSN) today announced that it has formalized its teaming agreement with Optics 1, Inc., of Manchester, New Hampshire, an optical systems designer and manufacturer, to support production opportunities for Clip-On Thermal Imager ("COTI") systems that have been jointly developed by the two firms over the last several years under government sponsorship.
The COTI has been designed to clip onto existing military night vision goggles and provide users with thermal images to complement the amplified low-light images that such goggles can currently provide. Such dual capability has been long sought by the military and is intended to both enhance imagery obtainable from the existing goggles as well as providing images in circumstances where physical barriers, atmospheric conditions or lack of light limit the effectiveness of the existing goggles. There are presently about one million night vision goggles in U.S. military inventories that could potentially be retrofitted with the COTI system.
Under the newly-announced teaming agreement, which has been informally in effect for some time, Irvine Sensors and Optics 1 will exclusively share production responsibilities and intellectual property related to the COTI. This will include support of the anticipated $37.8 million contract from the Naval Surface Warfare Center of Crane, Indiana that was recently announced as having been won by Optics 1 in a competitive procurement to provide COTIs for special operations forces.